On a hot day in December 2020, I was sitting in a filled-up keke — commercial tricycle — totally detesting what lay ahead of me. It was Thursday, the 17th, a day after the Federal Government ordered Nigerians to link their National Identification Number (NIN)s to their SIMs or get blocked.
Though it did not make sense that I was heading for Ikotun — one of many busy and crowded locations in Lagos, Nigeria — after the country was hit by the second wave of COVID-19, there I was, without a choice. Overcome by regret for not seizing the opportunity to register in 2015, I questioned the logic behind the directive as the keke weaved its way through traffic.
Typical traffic at Ikotun, Lagos state whatever time of the day you get there.
Given the urgency of the situation, I was not surprised to see a lot of people at the Local Council Office. Making my way up the stairs of the unremarkable National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) building where the NIN registration was taking place, I harboured fears of a crowd and a long queue.
